


Proof Positive

by Angie13



Category: Alice In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-18 07:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21840496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angie13/pseuds/Angie13
Summary: An adult Alice dabbles in a very practical (for her) hobby.  Bonus Lewis Carroll side joke.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 51
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Proof Positive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marcelo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marcelo/gifts).



With the utmost attitude of politeness, Alice leaned forward to fix her clear gaze on the excitable young man as he proudly showed off his newest gadget, pulling at levers and turning knobs and fiddling with cloth. “As you can clearly see, it is quite top of the line, a premiere bit of work,” he announced. “Why, it barely requires the cloth to block the light. Though, of course, it is always best to use it. The shutter attaches here and makes it all run like lightning,”

“Of course,” she agreed readily, anything to move the conversation in the direction she wished. Years of practice had honed her skills in that area; she sometimes wondered if her maneuvering was the direct result of having been the hapless passenger in so many conversations as a child. That feeling had never changed - whether sitting at Mother’s Tea or in the Duchess’ Parlour. She supposed there were some perks to reaching adulthood. There simply had to be in order to make up for the conversations one had to manage, she thought, eyeing Louis as he rambled.

“The shutter is removable. You can purchase models with it fixed but, for my thinking, it opens more options for experimentation if one has the choice of yes or no. The lenses are fixed, you see, so there are only so many points of control you have at your disposal. One learns to take advantage of all the opportunities if one is to be truly good at it and the dry plate process makes it easier to travel.”

Really, much like his camera, Louis was quite top of the line when it came to tiresome. He sounded like he made sense but, so often, he was no more than flummery and nonsense - like so many she had met in her days since leaving the schoolroom. More insultingly, he was not even amusing nonsense. Nonetheless, she smiled a bit and held out her hand. “May I hold it? I’ve heard the new machines are much lighter than previous models. My father owns one of those big, beastly things that requires a braced tripod and all.”

Louis frowned immediately at her description, the neophyte soul within him obviously aching at the thought of such an old camera existing. Without another word, he handed his to Alice and she took it carefully, cradling it with appropriate reverence. Louis relaxed at once and sat back in his chair. A small crease appearing between her eyebrows, Alice dismissed him from her mind as she focused on the device in her hands. It appeared simple enough, operating on the same principles as her father’s did. It certainly was lighter, though, and thus easier to manipulate. The brass fittings shone against the warm wood of the boxy body. She turned it experimentally and lifted it; it was still too heavy for one hand operation but it was still a vast improvement from what she had previously used. For once, Louis was not exaggerating. Alice looked up from the camera. “And you said that average sunlight is enough to register the image on the plate?”

“Oh, yes. Instantly.” He paused, had the grace to appear sheepish, and added in amendment, “Nearly so, anyway. That’s the shutter’s duty now, you know.”

“Clever thing.” Her smile brought a blush to his face, pink crawling up his neck and touching his ears. He accepted his camera back with a slight bow of his head. “If one were to go about buying or hiring one of these new cameras, how would..?”

“They are terribly expensive.” His interruption burst through her question and he flushed as the rudeness became apparent at the same moment. He ducked his head again to fend off her expression, rich with disdain and annoyance. She never could stand being interrupted anymore; there had been far too much of that years ago. Louis mumbled something for a brief handful of seconds and then, quite abruptly, placed the camera back in her hands. “But, as you are a close family friend and your father has allowed you use of his…” He paused and met her softening gaze. “Alice, would you like to borrow my camera for a day or so?”

It was all she could manage to avoid snatching it up and running far away. Still Alice smiled, nodded, and cradled the camera like a firstborn child. “I would be honored, Louis. Thank you. Would you mind reviewing the finer points one more time? I want to use this kindness to best effect.”

And thus, finally, finally, she had the tool she needed to catch those fleeting strange glimpses out the sides of her eyes and just around the corners of walls and in the hazy twilights and dawns.

***

It had been a long and frustrating day. Alice sat on her favorite bench in the garden and watched the sun set the sky on fire as it sank towards its well-earned nap beneath the horizon. The borrowed camera lay in her lap, both of her hands curved around it for protection. Beside her sat the small box of exposed plates from the day, a grand and princely total of twenty three.

All possibly wasted.

Despite her best efforts and swift reflexes, the images she sought to capture had eluded her all day. Of course, the proof would be in the processing but she trusted her instincts and those said that the shadows had been faster than her fingers. Quite deliberately, she had settled in the places that felt right - the border of rosemary, the stand of willows, the ridiculous little folly at the foot of the garden. Senses strained, she felt each passing moment and memory. 

Alice sighed and reached for the final, unused plate. She stared at it, wondering if she should use it after all. The light was fading fast and everything shaded towards lavender and mauve. “It would probably be very foolish to use it,” she murmured to herself, still full of advice after so many years. “A waste of money.”

As usual, however, she very seldom listened and, before the sun moved another shadow, the plate slid home into the camera’s slot and her fingers locked it in place. Then, without another moment’s thought, she lifted the camera to eye level and awkwardly rotated it, holding it at arms-length. Truly a waste of a plate but bother it all. 

She stuck out her tongue as her finger just barely managed to trigger the device. That, at least, should make for a very interesting processed photograph, she thought. A laugh teased at the back of her throat.

“A very interesting one indeed.” The voice purred warmly in her ear and Alice held perfectly still though a smile started to tease at her lips. “You know, though, it upsets people to see a grin without a cat.”

“Yet they’re never bothered by a cat without a grin,” she returned in a whisper.

A weight that felt rather like a paw settled on her shoulder and whiskers brushed against her hair. “Mmm, true, true, but then… Everyone’s mad here, anyway.”


End file.
